Threat to Trestles beach called bunk

July 30, 2008

Updated Aug. 21, 2013 1:17 p.m.

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Thousands turned out Saturday at Lower Trestles in San Onofre State Beach in 2007, just south of San Clemente, to watch the top surfers in the world compete in the Boost Mobile Pro. Trestles is known as one of the top surf spots in the world. Mark Rightmire, The Orange County Register

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An aerial photo shows the proposed route of 241 toll road extension, possibly through San Onofre State Park, north east of Trestles Beach which can be seen at the coast at bottom. San Mateo Creek comes through the valley with Cristianitos Road on the bluff above with the campground seen near the green field. San Clemente is to the left (north) ,Camp Pendleton is to the right (south). Jebb Harris, The Orange County Register

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Eight-time world champion Kelly Slater surfs in the fourth round Saturday just prior to advancing to the final round and winning the professional surifng's Boost Mobile Pro held at Lower Trestles in San Onofre State Beach in 2007. Mark Rightmire/The Orange County Register

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BIRD'S EYE VIEW Trestles Beach from the air. Photo by Jebb Harris.

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San Clemente's Chris Ward gets airborne during the fourth round of the Boost Mobile Pro in 2007 at Lower Trestles in San Onofre State Beach. Mark Rightmire, The Orange County Register

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BIG BREAK Surfer Derek Ireland makes his way home through the rocks at the Trestles surfing area at San Onofre State Beach. Photo by Eugene Garcia.

Thousands turned out Saturday at Lower Trestles in San Onofre State Beach in 2007, just south of San Clemente, to watch the top surfers in the world compete in the Boost Mobile Pro. Trestles is known as one of the top surf spots in the world. Mark Rightmire, The Orange County Register

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Building the Foothill South toll road will have no effect whatever on surfing conditions at the famous Trestles beach, according a noted oceanographer, whose scathing criticism of assertions by environmental activists was released this week.

Richard Seymour, a research engineer at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and an oceanographic consultant, was hired by the Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency to examine a series of studies of the road's potential effects on surfing. The studies were conducted by the toll road agency and by the environmental group Surfrider Foundation.

Seymour, who was paid $6,000 for the review conducted in May, said he largely agreed with the toll road agency consultants who studied the matter - and found the Surfrider studies to be filled with scientific mistakes.

"The reports commissioned by the Surfrider Foundation just contained a number of very, very serious erroneous assumptions - and incorrect theories, and incorrect interpretations of other documents," Seymour said.

Surfrider assistant environmental director Mark Rauscher said Wednesday said he believes it is Seymour's analysis that is flawed, not Surfrider's, which was conducted by Philip Williams and Associates.

"We disagree with the review and stand by the research conducted by PWA," Rauscher said.

The main problem, Seymour said, was the Surfrider consultant's assertion that fine sediment washed down San Mateo Creek as a result of the toll road's construction could interfere with cobbles that also are washed down the creek and into the ocean.

Seymour said that would not occur. The toll agency has pledged to control all sediment during construction.

The Sufrider consultant developed an "ad hoc" theory that "this very fine sediment was somehow going to prevent the cobbles from moving down to the beach," Seymour said in an interview. "This is ridiculous on its face."

A second error, he contended, was the consultant's assumption that, if the cobbles were interfered with, the surf breaks Trestles is known for would be disrupted.

"In the first place, it's a totally bogus theory, and is directly opposed by several real experts in this field of water transport - river transportation of sediment and rock," Seymour said.

The reefs offshore that create the surfing conditions, he said, were formed "a very, very long time ago," and are unaffected by the cobbles.

"They're very large boulders that are out there in deep water," he said. "The cobbles coming down the creek in the kind of flows we have now are simply never going to reach that, or have anything to do with that reef."

Surfrider's "argument was wrong in two ways," he said.

Rauscher called Seymour's analysis "simplistic," and said it failed to take into account the complexities of the environment at Trestles.

"When you're grading these millions of cubic yards of land, and literally flattening 20 canyons and valleys, it's pretty amazing to think they would say it would have zero change on the land," Rauscher said.

He said it was "impossible" for the toll road agency to control all sediment flows resulting from construction.

Seymour's report comes amid efforts by Surfrider and others to prevent the proposed Foothill South tollway from being built.

Activists have raised a number of issues about the proposed road, a 16-mile extension of the 241 toll road that toll road builders say is needed to relieve future traffic congestion and complete the county's toll road network.

It would cut through San Onofre State Beach park, potentially shattering the ambience of a popular campground; it would also slice across habitat for a variety of rare and endangered species.

But many supporters were galvanized by the possibility of harm to Trestles.

Rauscher said he doubted Seymour's report would diminish opposition to the toll road because there are larger issues at stake.

"Trestles is more than just the wave you ride," he said. "It's the whole experience. You have this incredible hike down to the beach, surrounded by native plants and wildlife, and this wonderful, uninterrupted watershed that feeds that beach. And this road will change all of that.

"People understand that it's a very big, very destructive, very complex project."

After a marathon public hearing in February that drew thousands, the state Coastal Commission rejected the proposal, calling it a violation of the state Coastal Act. But the tollway agency appealed the decision to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, an avenue open to the agency under the federal Coastal Zone Management Act.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a part of the Commerce Department, is considering the appeal and could hold a public hearing of its own; one set for this month at UC Irvine's Bren Events Center was canceled because of concerns about too large a crowd, and NOAA has not decided whether to schedule a new hearing.

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